


The Nightmares Remain

by summerrain24601



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerrain24601/pseuds/summerrain24601
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wardens are freed of the Nightmare's influence, and Magister Erimond has been judged. Finally able to find a moment alone, Elenna Lavellan confesses the truths she's been hiding since her narrow escape from the Fade. It is a side of her that only her vhenan gets to see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nightmares Remain

**Author's Note:**

> So, this came into my head because Solas didn't seem to have many scenes where he acted worried about the Inquisitor, even with all the times she throws herself into danger. So this came into being. Just a tender moment between Inquisitor Lavellan and her egghead apostate. Before everything explodes for a... What number are we on by Adamant?

Elenna paced the floor as Solas watched, leaning against the wall. 

"No, you don't understand!" she protested again. "They both volunteered to stay behind. I should have said something!" She brushed her hair out of her eyes; the bun she preferred was coming undone, and she didn't notice. Frustrated tears had been rolling down her cheeks off and on ever since returning from Adamant Fortress, and his heart ached to see her this way. But every time before when he had tried to reach out, she moved away. And she didn't even realize she was doing it, either. That Nightmare demon had become her primary focus since returning, and he wished he could distract her from that, if only for a moment. Survivor's Guilt, he'd heard it called, and it was eating her up from the inside. "And then, what my memories showed us... The Divine's death really was my fault. If I hadn't picked up the stupid orb, if I'd just attacked Corypheus instead..."

"He would have returned again, and you would have died at the Conclave, along with everyone else. The Anchor would be on his hand, not yours, and we would be truly doomed," he told her, for what felt like the hundredth time. "Ir abelas, ma vhenan," he told her gently, though he didn't try to approach her this time. "You need to sleep."

"I... I just can't!" she cried out, turning again as she walked from one end of the room to the other. "Varric must hate me for what happened... I should've said something! I... I could've stopped her! I could've found a way for all of us to escape the Fade together, nobody had to die!" She paused in her pacing and walked out onto the balcony. "I could have done something... Said something... Anything..." She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut against the memories that were still fresh in her mind. "Ma halani, vhenan... Please..."

"You are so strong," Solas said to her, a gentle hand placed on her back when he took a place next to her. His heart ached for her, even more so when he saw the tears that ran down her face yet again. He wrapped his arms around her, unable to think of anything else to do for her. She had asked for help, but he did not know what help he could give her.

"Varric must hate me now..." she muttered, her shoulders shaking. "Hawke is dead and it's my fault..."

"It is not your fault," he assured her, tightening his arms around her. "The choice was hers to make, not yours." He sighed softly. "I am glad that you returned to us... Returned to me. Mala suledin nadas."

"Ar lath ma, vhenan," Elenna muttered.

"When you sent us through the Rift ahead of you, and then didn't follow... I felt true fear for you," Solas admitted softly. Elenna hugged him tighter when she heard the pain in his voice. "There was a moment when I feared you would not return..." Elenna raised her head to look at him, and she saw her own fear mirrored in his eyes. 

"I was scared I wouldn't make it out," she admitted after a moment. "For all the magic in Thedas, all the spirits in the Fade, nothing can bring the dead back to life..." She was still crying, though. Solas brought one hand to her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb. 

"But you are safe now," he reminded her. He gazed into her eyes, her bright blue eyes that were just bright enough to be unnatural. "Ma vhenan, in all my days, I never thought I would find someone to draw my attention from the Fade," he admitted softly. "And I almost lost you to it." On impulse, Elenna softly kissed him. It was hesitant, and her lips were wet with her tears. It lasted but an instant before she was laying her head against his chest, which was damp with her tears.

"You haven't lost me yet," she muttered softly. "And if I have my way, you never will." She did not see the sadness that crossed his face as he held her, as they stood together out on her balcony. She could not have known what would happen later, that they would be torn apart by events beyond her control.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations from the Dragon Age wikia.
> 
> Ma halani: help me
> 
> Mala suledin nada. = Now you must endure.
> 
> Ar lath ma, vhenan = I love you, my heart.


End file.
